Editing William Godwin (section)

==Children==
[[File:Mary Wollstonecraft by John Opie (c. 1797).jpg|thumb|Mary Wollstonecraft by John Opie (c. 1797)]]

The eldest of Godwin's children was [[Fanny Imlay]] (1794–1816), who committed suicide as a young woman. Charles Gaulis Clairmont<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.nypl.org/cps/19551|title=Charles Gaulis Clairmont manuscript material|website=The New York Public Library|access-date=16 July 2018|archive-date=16 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716053822/http://archives.nypl.org/cps/19551|url-status=live}}</ref> ended up as Chair of English literature at [[Vienna University]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=McAllen|first1=M. M.|title=Maximilian and Carlota: Europe's Last Empire in Mexico|date=2014|page=21}}</ref> and taught sons of the royal family; news of his sudden death in 1849 distressed [[Maximilian I of Mexico|Maximilian]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Joffe|first1=Sharon|title=The Clairmont Family Letters, 1839–1889, Volume 2|date=2016|page=151}}</ref> Mary Godwin (1797–1851) gained fame as [[Mary Shelley]], author of ''[[Frankenstein]]''. Half a year younger than her was [[Claire Clairmont]], Mary Jane's only daughter, to whom she showed favouritism. The youngest, and the only child of the second marriage, was [[William Godwin the Younger]] (1803–1832). Godwin sent him first to [[Charterhouse School]] and then to various other establishments of a practical bent. Nonetheless, he eventually earned his living by the pen. He died at 29, leaving the manuscript of a novel, which Godwin saw into print. All of Godwin's children who lived into adulthood worked as writers or educators, carrying on his legacy and that of his wives. Only two of them had children who in turn survived: [[Sir Percy Shelley, 3rd Baronet|Percy Florence Shelley]], and the son and daughter of Charles. Godwin did not welcome the birth of [[Allegra Byron]], but Claire's only child died aged five.

Godwin had high hopes for Mary, giving her a more rigorous intellectual experience than most women of her period, and describing her as "very intelligent". He wished to give his daughter a more "masculine education" and prepared her to be a writer. However, Godwin withdrew his support as Mary became a woman and pursued her relationship with [[Percy Bysshe Shelley]].<ref>Carlson, Julie Ann. ''England's First Family of Writers: Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin, Mary Shelley''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 2007. Print.</ref> Mary's first two novels, ''[[Frankenstein]]'' and ''[[Mathilda (novella)|Mathilda]]'', may be seen as a reaction to her childhood. Both explore the role of the father in the child's socialisation and the control the father has on the child's future.<ref name=HideousProgeny>Hill-Miller, Katherine. ''"My Hideous Progeny": Mary Shelley, William Godwin, and the Father-daughter Relationship''. Newark: U of Delaware, 1995. Print.</ref> Shelley's last two novels, ''[[Lodore]]'' and ''[[Falkner (novel)|Falkner]]'', re-evaluate the father-daughter relationship. They were written at a time when Shelley was raising [[Sir Percy Shelley, 3rd Baronet|her only surviving child]] alone and supporting her ageing father. In both novels, the daughter eludes the father's control by giving him the traditional maternal figure he asks for. This relationship gives the daughter control of the father.<ref name= HideousProgeny /><ref>{{cite web|last1=Greenlee|first1=Alison M.|title=The Swiss Family Robinson and... Frankenstein?|url=http://orgs.utulsa.edu/spcol/?p=1208|website=University of Tulsa|access-date=16 October 2017|date=10 October 2011|archive-date=16 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016070524/http://orgs.utulsa.edu/spcol/?p=1208|url-status=live}}</ref>